


More

by ant5b



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: F/M, Hawaiian mythology - Freeform, Minor Violence, Polynesian Mythology - Freeform, Romance, Set 10 years after the movie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-06 13:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8753797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ant5b/pseuds/ant5b
Summary: Sometimes you just have to go find more.Moana comes to grips with her growing feelings for Maui amid their most recent near-death experience.





	1. Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written fanfiction in years, so please let me know any ways I can improve. (Please do so kindly, I'm very sensitive haha)  
> And please let me know if I mess up anything to do with Polynesian culture, the last thing I want to do is offend anyone or use anything incorrectly.

Though her people as a whole had rediscovered their way-finder heritage, Moana was the only one who would regularly leave their island, the ocean’s call a siren song she was now disinclined to resist. And where Moana went, Maui would almost always follow.

The demigod’s visits were comforting in their regularity,five months being the longest Moana had gone without seeing him. She had been twenty at the time, taking a fishing boat out with a half dozen men and women from her village, and he had made his triumphant return in full Maui fashion. Circling the mast in his hawk shift, the sudden breeze his powerful wings created whipped their hair about, and mingled with his familiar excitable cry. Without warning, he had dropped down and seconds before hitting the deck shifted back into a man with a flash of blue light, enveloping Moana in his massive arms and spinning her around jubilantly, to the amusement of the others on the canoe.

“Didja miss me, princess?” he had grinned, all dimples and tousled hair, bristling with energy, so unlike the dour demigod who had continuously thrown her off her own canoe.

Moana flushed in the cradle of his arms, both from the endearment (that she only rarely bothered to correct), and the scrutiny of her crew. She knew Maui only acted like this to get a rise out of her, but she _had_ missed him.

“I always do,” she responded, still feeling a little self-conscious, but finally returned the embrace by wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt Maui stiffen, and smirked into his hair. He was always thrown by her candor, as if her opinion of him would change sometime between this visit and the last.

“ _Aue,_ alright, enough of that, Captain Cuddles,” he had blustered predictably, loosening his grip and setting her down. “Give a demigod some air.”

He hadn’t made eye contact for a moment, his cheeks ruddy, and Moana took the victory for what it was.

Maui’s visits were often characterized by scouting missions, and anywhere between the two of them and half the island might accompany them. Maui had been invaluable in teaching her people how to way-find, and Moana would be forever grateful for the chance to share the experience with her friends and family. However, this only made Moana appreciate the quiet moments between her and Maui all the more, sailing under a star strewn sky without any fantastic monsters to defeat or islands to reconnoiter. The easy rhythm and trust they shared were a balm to her spirit, as the pressures of her imminent chiefdom built with every passing year.

It was on one such voyage with just the pair of them that they came across a new island. Maui vaguely recalled dredging it up from the ocean floor a millennium or so ago, and Moana decided to go ashore. Every so often they would happen upon an island that was already inhabited, and children would crowd on the beach and in the shallows as they made their approach.

Way-finding was a skill lost by many of her people, she would learn, threatened by the same dangers as Montinui had been. It filled Moana with pride to be able to tell the chiefs of far away villages that the seas were safe once more, and with their permission, she and Maui  would sometimes stay to teach the finer points of way-finding.

For all that he had chaffed and complained while teaching _her_ , Maui was an excellent and eager teacher, and he practically preened under the attention her village gave him. The children in particular were enthralled by him, demanding stories and shows of strength. Maui, of course, would oblige them, telling heart pounding tales, punctuated by shifts into various animals, and lifting heavier and heavier objects, the largest being their grandest canoe. It was rare to see Maui in the village without at least half a dozen children trailing behind him like ducklings or carried on his broad shoulders.

Moana couldn’t help but feel overjoyed that her people had welcomed Maui back so readily, and that he seemed so eager be a part of them. She could recall the time that their eyes had met over the head of a child or two dozen, teaching them to fish in the shallows as the sun began its descent. He had smiled at her, and not the cocky grin that made her want to throw her oar in his face, or the amused smirk at her mortal antics. No, this smile was warm, as warm as the sun’s rays as they haloed his fall of silky hair and made his skin shine like burnished gold. His eyes were soft, and filled with something else, something she couldn't name, that buoyed her with the same ineffable feeling, making her feel bashful and ebullient all at once.

And that feeling hadn’t gone away. It had morphed, surely, and her interactions with Maui were now often punctuated with that same bubbly feeling, or regrettably, awkward stiltedness. As Moana watched him tug their canoe ashore the strange island one handed and in one go (after all these years, he’d still rather impress her than let her do the work herself), she pondered over the change in their relationship. But surely nothing _had_ changed? Maui was the same insufferable, smug, immature bastard she had met on his island over a decade ago; but at the same time, he was so unlike that selfish castaway that it made her head spin. As for her…

Moana watched the muscles of Maui’s back ripple in the sun, and felt her face heat, quickly looking away before he could turn around. As she fiddled with the talavalu strung across her back she admitted quietly to herself that perhaps things _were_ different.

“ _Aia ho ‘i!_ ” Maui announced, spinning his fishhook once before slinging it across his shoulders. “Just take in the bounty Maui has provided for you mortals!”

Moana followed his gaze along the shoreline and up the cliffs of the strange island, before folding her arms and fixing him with a look. “You barely even remembered pulling up this island, oh Master of Wind and Sea.”

Maui shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if I remember, that only thing that matters is that this demigod did the job!”

Mini-Maui applauded from his host’s left pectoral, and Maui ducked his head in a show of gratitude. “Thank you, thank you, you’re too kind.”

Moana fought off a smile as she rolled her eyes. “Are we ever going to explore the island, or are you just gonna stay there congratulating yourself on how great you are?”

“I don’t see why I can’t do both,” Maui grinned, cocking his eyebrow, and Moana rolled her eyes with a huff. “Alright, alright,” he acquiesced, “it’s time for a little island exploration with your tour guide, the one, the only, Ma-”

Moana slapped a hand over his mouth, cutting off his boasting before he could get into true Maui levels of volume. “How about I lead, before you wake up the entire island?” she offered sweetly, an unspoken threat in her eyes.

Maui held up his hands in surrender, his eyes crinkling attractively in amusement, and Moana felt his smile under her palm. Removing her hand just a little too quickly, Moana assumed as great a chiefly air as she could muster.

“Good,” she said, and pointed into the underbrush. “Now march!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I should be updating soon, but I may be enticed to finish the next chapter sooner if I get some comments ;D
> 
> Aue: used in Polynesia to express an emotional reaction (such as sorrow, surprise, or affection)  
> Talavalu: Samoan spear-like weapon  
> Aia ho 'i: Hawaiian for "Behold! Ta da!"


	2. The Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hijinks abound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for so many wonderful comments! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, because the earliest I'll be able to update again is this weekend :'( But this chapter's much longer than the first to make up for it.

The rainforest canopy stretched over their heads like a second, dense verdant sky, birdsong all that punctured the silence aside from the sound of their footfalls. Only a few beams of light made it through the foliage,and even those were weak, making their surroundings appear gray. Through the gaps in the canopy storm clouds could be seen brewing, the air turning more humid by the minute. 

They had found the island devoid of people, though there were obvious signs that there had been a village of significant size not far from the shore. All that was left were the remains of  _ fale  _ in varying sizes, no more than crumbling husks now but indicative of the lives they had housed, and a path nearly obscured by grass and tree roots curving through the abandoned village. 

“What do you think happened here?” Moana murmured, crouching beside the largest of the  _ fale  _ and unearthing a dirty  _ kapa  _ mat from beneath a fallen beam. 

Maui was leaning on his hook, picking at his fingernails and looking generally disinterested. “Who knows? Disease, bad harvest, maybe they just got bored and left.”

“Wow,  _ thanks _ , Maui,” Moana responded sarcastically, letting the  _ kapa  _ mat drop. 

“You’re  _ welcome _ , Mo-” Moana whacked him with the end of her talavalu, and he finished on a laugh. Maui trailed off upon seeing the furrow between her brows and how tightly she held her talavalu. His expression softened. 

“Hey, it’s probably nothing, Curly,” he assured her, “Villages get abandoned all the time. You guys left Montinui, and it wasn’t because of some cataclysm.”

Moana’s tense countenance eased, and a smile rose to her face more readily. “That’s because we had to  _ stop  _ the cataclysm first.”

“You say  _ makai,  _ I say  _ mauka _ ,” Maui retorted flippantly, spinning his hook a few times. “Now what do you say we explore the rest of this place?”

As if on cue, thunder rumbled overhead like a dozen  _ lali  _ log drums, and the last of Moana’s disquiet was banished as she laughed at the scowl on Maui’s face. 

“How about we get our supplies and find shelter for the night instead?” she suggested, still giggling.

 

___________________________________________

 

They made it back to shore to discover the tide had risen higher than they expected, with Moana’s canoe moments away from being swept into open ocean. 

In a panic, Moana leapt into the water, but she’d hardly made it five feet before she heard Maui’s shout of  _ Cheehoo! _ punctuated by a flash of blue light. In the next moment talons the size of her head were closing gently around her arms, plucking her from the surf with a few powerful wing-beats. 

“Maui!” she laughed, looking up at the great hawk holding her aloft, and she could have sworn he winked below diving down toward her canoe. Thunder rumbled above them once more, but Moana couldn't judge how close the storm was because Maui decided at that moment to let her go. However, instead of letting her drop down onto her canoe, he tossed her into the water with a shriek. 

Moana rose to the surface sputtering as Maui lazily circled the canoe’s mast making cough-like sounds that were annoyingly reminiscent of laughter. 

“ _ Maui!” _ she cried, “I’m going to kill you, you oversized chicken!” 

Another flare of blue light and Maui landed on the deck of the canoe as a man, still chuckling. “Take it easy, Curly,” he grinned, kneeling on the canoe’s starboard side and offering her a hand. “You used to take that joke so much better.”

Moana had half a mind to splash seawater in his face, but the ocean chose to do her a solid instead. A tendril of water shot out and latched itself around Maui’s extended hand, and all the demigod had time to do was blink in surprise before he was yanked into the ocean with a great splash. 

Moana was still cackling by the time Maui resurfaced,sputtering indignantly at the ocean. “It looks like  _ someone _ can’t take a joke!” she said, still giggling even when she paused to take a breath.

She didn't notice the mischievous look settle over Maui’s features. “Oh yeah?” he challenged, and lifting her firmly by the waist he tossing her back into the water several feet away.

Moana was still laughing when she surfaced, coughing a bit on seawater but her smile undaunted. “You,” she announced, “are the  _ worst _ .”

Maui’s laughter washed over, rich and deep and  _ happy _ , and that familiar warmth beneath her breastbone smoldered like a great  _ imu _ , despite the chill of the water. 

The demigod paddled over to her canoe, Moana not far behind. He heaved himself onto the deck and reached for her again. “No tricks this time,” he admonished with a wink, and Moana took his hand with a roll of her eyes. 

“Says the  _ trickster _ ,” she retorted, keeping her tone even as Maui plucked her from the water without effort. Her stomach flipped at his casual show of strength, as it often did, though she wasn’t about to let him  _ know  _ that. 

Whatever Maui might have said next was cut off by an impertinent roll of thunder right over their heads, followed by an immediate downpour. Rain fell so heavily they could hardly see the shore, and Moana groaned in frustration, resisting the urge to flop onto the deck and remain there. 

Maui’s response was to laughingly nudge her toward the bow and tell her to, “Hurry it up, it’s not like we’re getting any dryer!” 

She had half a mind to knock him back into the water. 

 

___________________________________________

 

They managed to find a small cove where they could moor the canoe, safe from the storm and where it wouldn't be dragged back out to sea. Retrieving the supplies they had stored in the cockpit, they returned to the jungle to scout for shelter. 

Maui quickly tired of plodding around without a destination in mind, shifting into an iguana and disappearing with only a rustle of ferns to mark his passage. Moana had been waiting a few minutes by the time he reappeared, heralded by a flash of blue. 

“I found a cave, not too far from here,” he said, lightly hefting their sack of supplies over one shoulder and heading back out. 

“Uninhabited, I hope,” Moana quipped, following him through the foliage.

“Curly, I don’t think there’s an inch of this island that  _ isn’t  _ uninhabited.” 

True to Maui’s word, the dense treeline finally parted to reveal a clearing. A large pond, reflecting the gray, tumultuous sky, sat before the mouth a cave. The cave itself rested at the base of a small mountain, longer than it was tall, and extending in the direction opposite them. 

Moana eyed the pond appraisingly as they skirted its edge. It appeared wide, though shallow, not the most ideal for fishing. It didn’t help that it was raining so hard she couldn't tell if there was anything moving beneath its surface, and resolved to check in the morning. She hoped that the storm would have moved on by then. 

Once they reached the cave entrance, Maui set down his load and prowled through its depth, the carvings on his fishhook alight and illuminating his way. Moana settled on the hard packed earth and began readying to build a fire, watching Maui check every crevice of the cave wall out of the corner of her eye. 

Maui returned with his fishhook no longer aglow and an easy smile, ruffling her hair as he moved to sit beside her. Moana swatted at him, but allowed him to take over building the fire. She figured that being the one to present it to humans in the first place, he could probably start it faster than her.

“No lava monsters lurking in the dark corners of the cave?” Moana teased, setting her talavalu aside, harness and all. 

Maui chuckled, nudging her with an elbow. “ _ Cute _ . And no, no lava monsters, and no back entrance. Only a tiny gap that looks like it connects to another cave, and you’d barely be small enough to fit through.” 

The demigod soon had the fire roaring, and Moana hummed pleasantly as warmth began returning to her extremities. Not much longer and she guessed her clothes would be mostly, if not completely, dry. 

They set to broiling breadfruit and unripe bananas over the fire, snacking on dried fish while they waited. Maui had the bad habit of grabbing food right off the fire, especially when it wasn't finished cooking, and Moana would smack him out of reflex every time. She knew it wouldn’t burn him, he could probably stick his whole hand in the fire and come out unscathed, but he would always wince and bemoan her abuse, rubbing the spot where she had hit him as if she could actually hurt him. It made her smile every time, though she tried unsuccessfully to hide it. 

Maui tried to snatch a whole breadfruit this time, and Moana lashed out with the stick she was using to turn their dinner. 

“ _ Aiâ! _ ” Maui yelped, shaking off his obviously uninjured hand. “Come on, Mo, I’m starving! This is taking forever!”

“That’s because you have the patience of a five-year-old,” Moana responded tartly, and Maui groaned like the immature, ageless demigod he was. Taking pity on him, though not  trusting him enough to take her eyes off the fire, she suggested, “Why don’t you tell me about what you’ve been up to since I last saw you. You must’ve had  _ some  _ adventures in the last three months.” 

Maui perked up almost instantly. Having given him all the incentive he needed, Maui launched into an enthusiastic tale of how he had been hauling up a new island ( _ “For you and your people to explore,” he’d paused to say, expression softening minutely _ ), only to discover that the demon ‘Ai’Ai, a gargantuan octopus with tentacles forty feet long, had claimed it for himself. Maui described their battle in great detail, but in between glances at their dinner, Moana only had eyes for Maui himself. 

A combination of the flickering flames and Maui’s natural exuberance lit his eyes from within, and his riotous curls glistened in the firelight like obsidian as they swayed with his dynamic movements. His tattoos were in constant motion in this state, coiling around his biceps or gliding across his chest in a mesmerizing dance. 

Moana looked away, hoping that her proximity to the fire would excuse her blush. She was beginning to tire of the heat in her cheeks and the knots in her stomach, which she knew were all  _ Maui’s  _ fault, with his distracting tattoos, smug attitude, and the raw power he wielded so casually. But at the same time there was his incredible loyalty, even when life was at its worst, and the passion in everything he did that kindled the fire beneath her breast,and made her want to thank the Gods for having him in her life. 

She resisted the urge to frown as she moved the bananas onto the cool coconut leaves beside the fire. Maui was her best friend, indisputably. Did she really want to let... _ whatever _ she was feeling affect that?

Moana was drawn from her disconcerting thoughts by the end of Maui’s tale, as he described pitching ‘Ai’Ai back into the Realm of Monsters. 

“I got a new tattoo before the entrance to Lalotai even closed!” Maui was saying proudly, “Did you notice?”

Moana knew Maui’s tattoos like she knew the push and pull of the ocean, but she shook her head anyway. “Show me,” she requested with a smile. 

Maui grinned in response, ducking his head and extending his arm. Moana leaned forward, her hair falling over her shoulder like a curtain, and gently clasped his forearm in both hands. There on Maui’s elbow was a tattoo of him and ‘Ai’Ai locked in ferocious combat, the octopus’ tentacles curling into the hollow of his elbow. 

“ _ ‘Ai’Ai Ka make _ ,” Moana quipped with a small smile, which faltered when she glanced back up. 

Maui had been watching her as she studied his tattoo, and there was something heavy in his expression, hidden in the depths of his eyes. The moment stretched, taut like a rope that had been pulled too tight. Moana was still holding Maui’s arm, nearly cradling it in her lap, and his skin was warm under her palms. She found herself holding her breath, unsure of what she was waiting for. 

All at once she registered the smell of something burning and jerked away from Maui. She saved the breadfruit from getting scorched just in time, her heart hammering and stomach tying itself into complicated knots.  _ What was that?!  _ her inner monologue would not stop repeating, and she hesitated a glance at Maui as she placed the last of the breadfruit beside the bananas. 

He was looking down at his new tattoo, but as if he’d felt her eyes on him he glanced up with the easy smile he usually sported. 

“ _ ‘Ai’Ai Ka make _ ,” he said, echoing her. “I like the sound of that!”

Moana was stuck between wanting to sigh deeply in relief and strangling Maui for brushing off whatever had just happened between them, but she fell into routine all the same. 

“Oh no,” she bemoaned, “I’ve created a monster. Don’t tell me you’re going to name  _ all  _ of your tattoos now?”

Maui had somehow gotten ahold of the coconut leaf holding bananas without her notice, chuckling as he peeled what was likely his third or fourth helping. “You’ve been doing most of the naming, princess.”

Mini-Maui waved cheerfully from the demigod’s shoulder, unintentionally reminding her of the title she had bestowed on the living tattoo as a teenager. 

Moana scowled, realizing Maui was right, and he snorted, though appeared to take pity on her by changing the subject. 

“I’m gonna end up finishing these if you don’t start eating,” Maui cajoled, nudging the leaf with bananas toward her. As she passed him the breadfruit he continued in that insufferably smug tone, “and once we’re done, you can help me name the rest of my tattoos!”

Moana threw her breadfruit peel at him, nearly falling over from laughter when he recoiled and nearly upended their dinner into the fire. 

After dinner they ended up laying on their backs side by side with their feet to the fire, naming Maui’s tattoos like he wanted. Moana tried her hardest to think of the most ridiculous titles, from “Maui Tries to Wrangle the World’s Largest Coconut” for his lassoing of the sun, to “Maui the Kleptomaniac” where he learned the secret of fire. In the end they were snickering like children, their sides pressed close together. Maui’s bulk provided almost more warmth than the fire at their feet, and as they fell into a comfortable silence the day’s events began to catch up with Moana. 

Soothed by a full stomach and Maui’s closeness, Moana began to drift off, her head pillowed by Maui’s bicep. She treasured these moments with Maui above all else, and would not risk them for the world. Moana knew then, even as sleep claimed her, that she would be content with the way things were. She would have to be. 

Moana would later believe she had dreamed it, but before she was entirely asleep she felt Maui press a kiss to the crown of her head and murmur, “Good night, Moana.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please don't forget to comment! 
> 
> Fale: Samoan word for all types of houses, big or small  
> Kapa mat: barkcloth  
> Makai: (Hawaiian) towards the sea; the ocean side  
> Mauka: (Hawaiian) towards the mountain; the side facing the mountain  
> Lali: pacific islander drum of the wooden slit-gong type  
> Imu: earth ovens only created for special events or ceremonies  
> Aiâ: Hawaiian phrase meant to express surprise from sudden unexpected pain  
> ‘Ai’Ai: “Octopus” in Hawaiian. Based on the sightings of an actual giant octopus in Oahu.  
> ‘Ai’Ai Ka make: “Octopus’ defeat” in Hawaiian


	3. Contemplation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maui, demigod of the wind and sea, hero to all, and...lovesick idiot?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to everyone who commented! I appreciate your feedback more than you'll ever know :D
> 
> And I'm really sorry that this isn't the plotty chapter I promised you. I wanted a little more input from Maui before Things start happening, and I'll admit that I had a lot of fun writing from his POV. So please enjoy, and I promise that things will start speeding up next chapter :)

 

Maui wondered how he had found himself in this position, resting beside the woman who was the object of his...complicated affections. 

Well, okay, he knew perfectly well the  _ events  _ that had transpired leading up to this point in time, he was just having a hard time  _ believing  _ them. Some nights he feared that everything he was experiencing now was a dream, and he would wake to find the islet he had been marooned on was his reality. Demigod or not, the millennia he’d spent alone had been torturous for Maui. Consumed by his failure and the loss of his hook, Maui’s self-doubts, normally stifled by feats of heroism and the proceeding accolades, had nowhere else to go but the forefront of his mind. Kept forcibly apart from the rest of the world, he had counted down the days and wondered how long it would take for humankind to move on without him, to  _ forget  _ him. 

Mini Maui had been a comfort, but in the end he hadn't been enough. Maui had only ever craved the absolution and affirmation that mortals provided, eager to please and desperate for validation. He had sought a place among them, to be welcomed at their hearths and at their feasts, not as the demigod of wind and sea, but as  _ Maui _ , his strength and skill only a bonus. 

But Maui learned quickly that the duality of his existence, neither wholly of the gods nor of the mortal world, would always keep him at arm's length. Without his abilities he wouldn't be worthy of love or praise, and without his hook he wasn’t Maui the shapeshifter, demigod, hero to all. Without his hook he was Maui the orphan, unwanted and rejected. This was what Maui had believed for centuries, and there had been nothing to prove otherwise. Not until _her_.   
Maui glanced down at Moana, snoring indelicately against his arm. How one mortal woman could change his life so thoroughly he would never know. Then again, most mortals weren't Moana. Dauntless and fragile, clever and strong, there was no one word that could encapsulate all that was Moana Waialiki. She had saved him time and time again: from the lonely prison of the island, a humiliating death at the jaws of Tamatoa, and the crushing weight of his insecurities. That wasn't even counting the adventures they'd had since the restoration of Te Fiti, where Moana, blossoming into her role as master way-finder and chief, had proved her mettle more than once and saved Maui from himself (not including the monsters that would crop up every now and then).   
Maui had never really keep track of time before he was stranded because he had been constantly moving, fighting, seeking, but all at once he was stuck in all the ways a shapeshifter and way-finder could be. The days crawled by at an agonizing pace, and his nights became lessons in whatever torments his subconscious could dredge up. For the last 400 or so years of his marooning, he had stopped sleeping altogether. 

He had taken to marking the passage of the time, a tick for every day he was stranded on that damned islet, it wasn't long before they began to take the shape of his obsession. His fishhook appeared in tallies on the sides of boulders, dancing mockingly behind closed eyes when he fell into exhausted sleep. But even now that Maui was free of the islet, time still had its claws in him. True freedom had quashed his grueling awareness of time's passing, but instead of providing relief it only made him more anxious.   
Moana did not have the same luxury of immortality that the gods had granted him, and every time his demi-godly duties forced him to leave her side he was terrified that he would lose track of time, and that 30 years would go by without his notice. When he was away, Maui would keep meticulous track of every sunrise, and only journey into Lalotai on extreme occasions; time tended to act a bit screwy when in the Realm of Monsters, and he had no desire to lose an entire year when disposing of the likes of 'Ai'Ai.   
To Maui's relief, the last decade had gone by without incident. Never mind how briefly he was away, Maui always returned fearing he had lost track of time, that Moana had tired of waiting for him, that she was gone and he was forgotten. But instead, Maui's return was heralded by Moana's smile, warming him in such a way that the sun's rays could never compare.   
It came as a shock that in between his comings and goings, the confident, talented girl he'd been unafraid to call friend had turned into a woman, capable and powerful and _beautiful_. The realization had snuck up on him a scant few years ago, over something small and inherently ridiculous. 

Moana had kept his oar. Maui hadn’t noticed, hadn't thought to  _ look _ , really, in the years since his and Moana’s first adventure. He figured that she wouldn’t have reason to keep it, seeing as how much it had irritated her when he’d signed it, and yeah, it had sort've been an asshole thing to do. But they were out sailing one day and Moana had tossed him her oar and there they were - his hook and the little heart carved into the wood. 

Moana had scaled the mast while he stared at the oar in his hands, gobsmacked and probably looking like an idiot. She had very quickly figured out that they weren’t moving in any purposeful direction, and had glanced at him from over her shoulder. 

“Everything okay down there?” 

Maui had blinked, coming back to himself, and felt something in his chest tighten as he looked down at his signature. Moana could surely see the vulnerable expression on his face, the demigod caught off guard by sentimentality he couldn't understand. Maui could've brushed it off, teased her to make her forget what she’d seen, but instead his voice was soft. 

“You kept this?”

Moana had climbed back down the mast, her smile gentle and only a little sly. Maui, suddenly all too aware of her body’s proximity to his, tensed as she stood before him. “What can I say,” she’d said casually, and the hand she placed on his wrist felt like a brand, “I’m a big fan.”

Maui was an idiot, but even he could only be willfully ignorant for so long. He knew his gaze lingered too long on the curve of her cheek and the span of her shoulders, could no longer ignore the lightness he felt at the sound of her bright laughter, the mingled dread and anticipation in his gut when their eyes met over the fire. 

So Maui wouldn’t ignore it, but he wouldn’t name it either. Not an ideal situation, he knew, but he risked being overwhelmed by the depth of these...feelings.  _ Whatever  _ he was feeling. 

Moana made a small sound in her sleep beside him, returning Maui to the present. As he glanced down, she muttered incomprehensibly and turned onto her side, laying her arm across Maui’s torso. The demigod reddened and stiffened almost immediately, but Moana had already begun snoring again and showed no sign of waking. He gradually relaxed, though still flushed to the tips of his ears. Movement by his left pec caught his attention and when he looked down he saw Mini Maui and Mini Moana hand in hand, the former with a dopey grin on his face. When they saw that they had his attention, both tattoos gestured insistently at Moana, Mini Maui going so far as to wrap his arms around Mini Moana in an embrace to get his point across. 

Maui rolled his eyes and muttered at them to knock it off, but then Moana sighed deeply beside him, reminding him of how lucky he was to have her so close. Pointedly ignoring Mini Maui and Mini Moana smug looks, he carefully covered the hand Moana had resting on his chest with his much larger one. When she didn’t react, Maui gently squeezed her hand. 

Sleep did not come easily for Maui, not after the island, but there was something about Moana’s presence that put him at peace. On that particular night, with the flickering fire offsetting the sound of rain and Moana’s hand over his heart, the darkness behind his closed eyelids did not seem so daunting. Perhaps against his better judgement, Maui slept. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please comment to let me know what you thought ;)


	4. Push and Pull

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids aren´t alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can´t tell you how much your feedback means to me! I hope you all continue to enjoy the story as much as I love writing it :D
> 
> Alright, so Plot starts happening this chapter! I hope you like it, and please leave me a comment with what you thought!

Moana woke to the sound of chirping birds and Maui’s chest rising and falling beneath her ear. 

For a few moments her mind was too sleep addled to make much of their proximity, and Moana’s eyes remained blissfully closed, lulled by warmth and the last vestiges of sleep. Bit by bit, however, the waking world made itself known: the lingering smell of burnt wood from their fire, the rush of the wind, Maui’s palm against her back. 

All at once Moana jerked into wakefulness, feeling as though she had plunged into freezing water without warning. 

During the night she must have moved, and exchanged Maui’s bicep for his chest as her pillow. Moana’s arm laid across his torso, and to complete the embrace, Maui’s own arm had curled around her, his palm loosely spanning the width of her back. 

Moana’s shock turned into embarrassment, and she risked a glance at Maui. Dread coiled in the pit of her stomach at the thought of him already being awake and ready to tease her mercilessly for clinging to him in her sleep.

To her immense relief, the demigod’s eyes were closed in slumber, his head tilted in her direction and his breathing deep and even. Moana closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods for small mercies. She carefully maneuvered her way out of Maui’s embrace, instantly missing his closeness and squashing the impulse to return to his side. She was having enough trouble dealing with her affections for Maui on a regular basis, and didn't need  _ cuddling  _ as an additional complication. 

Maui grumbled in his sleep as she disentangled herself, and Moana giggled to herself as she straightened her skirt. A glance at the mouth of the cave told her that the sun had already risen, though she couldn't tell its position, and the rain seemed to have stopped. She moved to eat one of the leftover dried fish when a sound caught her attention, distinct from those of the jungle as it awakened around them. Moana recognized the low murmur of voices, and trepidation swept over her. 

She and Maui had searched much of the island, and had found no sign of any inhabitants beyond the aged and crumbling village ruins. Maui, she knew, had done his best to banish the disquiet from her mind, and being a demigod he certainly had more experience in strange goings-on than she. But Moana wouldn't take any stupid risks, and walked over to the slumbering Maui. 

“Maui,” she whispered, prodding at his arm. When that failed to elicit a response, she shoved his shoulder instead. “ _ Maui _ ,” she said louder, “I think there’s someone outside. On this  _ very uninhabited  _ island.”

“ _ You’re _ outside,” Maui muttered, and rolled onto his side so that only his broad back faced her. 

Moana rolled her eyes, her arms akimbo. “What ever happened to ‘way-finders never sleep’?”  

However, her nerves had eased in the face of Maui’s indifference. Even half-asleep, she knew he would never willingly allow anything to harm her, and if he wasn't worried Moana was loathe to wake him. Maui took his own advice a little too literally, and this was one of the few times Moana had  _ ever  _ seen him sleep so deeply, and so peacefully. So she let him be, and gathered up her talavalu, because there was no harm in being careful, and made to exit the cave. 

To her surprise, not only had the rain ended but the storm seemed to have completely passed them by. The sky shone a radiant blue, with only a few wisps of cloud to denote the how overcast it had been just the day before. The hard packed earth of the cave gave way to patches of grass as she followed the sound of voices and now that she was closer she recognized the sing-song flow of two women speaking. 

Less than two dozen feet from the cave entrance, Moana finally laid eyes on the owners of the voices. Two women wearing  _ pa’u  _ were gathering water from the pond, surrounded by half a dozen  _ ipu  _ gourds, each netted with intricate  _ hāāwele _ . One was more heavy-set, with thick black hair cascading down her back, and spanning one shoulder was a large, swirling tattoo. Her thinner counterpart had hair just as dark and just as thick, piled on her head in a loose bun that allowed curly strands to sway in the breeze. Both of them were incredibly beautiful. 

The former noticed Moana lingering near the cave, beckoning her over with a smile. 

“Come join us,  _ malihini! _ There’s plenty water for the three of us.”

Moana brushed aside her initial surprise at seeing the pair and started forward, moving to sit beside the woman with the shoulder tattoo. On closer inspection, she could see that her tattoo was made up of images of storms, lightning and wind. 

The other woman met Moana’s gaze and smiled gently, the motion pulling at a small scar that cut through her upper lip.

“I...didn’t think there was anyone  _ on _ this island,” Moana began slowly, watching the two women fill their  _ ipu _ . 

They snickered, and the first one beamed at Moana over her tattooed shoulder. “You must not have looked very hard! Tell me, what is your name, stranger?”

“Moana Waialiki,” she responded, looking over the pond’s surface. The sunlight made it glisten brilliantly, and Moana was temporarily entranced. 

“Waialiki,” the second woman repeated, looking down her nose at Moana, though a smirk teased the corner of her scarred lip. “A daughter of chiefs.”

“What an honor!” the more boisterous of the pair cackled, and was promptly elbowed in the side by the other woman. 

“Ignore my sister,” the thinner woman assured Moana, “she only teases. I am called Milolii. The one without manners is Kilioe.”

Moana smiled, but doubt still niggled in a corner of her mind. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both, but...where are the rest of your people? The village by the shore, it was abandoned-”

“We have a small settlement, on the other side of the mountain,” Kilioe interrupted, filling what appeared to be her final  _ ipu _ . She fixed Moana with a startlingly piercing gaze, her eyes so dark they were nearly black. “And where do  _ you  _ hail from, Moana Waialiki?”

“Leave her be, Kili,” Milolii admonished. She rested her hands on the empty  _ ipu  _ in front of her, leaning forward slightly. “You are a way-finder, aren’t you Moana? We saw your canoe out on the shore before the storm began. You’re not stranded here, are you child?”

Moana hastened to reassure her. “No, no, my-my friend and I managed to secure our canoe before the storm hit.”

“Your friend,” Kilioe began, just a touch too casually, and Moana immediately expected the worst after the more brusque sister’s prolonged silence. “The big man?” She looked Moana up at down with a critical eye, and grinned slyly. “And you are such a little girl. Take care he doesn’t gobble you up.”

Moana lurched back, her face burning. Embarrassment warring with insult, she began to sputter, “We’re not—Maui  _ wouldn’t —  _ I-I mean—”

“Maui,” Milolii echoed, her eyebrows rising, and Moana snapped her mouth shut. 

“The demigod,” Kilioe said, peering intently at Moana. 

Unnerved by their attention, Moana nodded slowly. “He’s my friend.”

“You’re in love with him,” Milolii murmured, as if seeing something that had been there all along. 

Moana’s blush threatened to return at full force, but something about the situation had begun to make her feel ill at ease, rather than flustered. 

“I’m sorry,” she started to say, “but I’d better go check on Maui, he usually doesn’t sleep in this late.”  _ Or at all _ , a quiet voice pointed out. 

“Stay, child,” Milolii gently requested, and her mouth twisted wryly. “Humor us. We’re merely old gossips with no young ones of our own to tease.”

“The Demigod of Wind and Sea on our shores,” Kilioe tittered, not giving Moana any time to respond. “We are certainly blessed, Lili.”

“I-I don’t —” Moana’s mouth and tongue rebelled, and she was unable to force a refusal past her teeth. 

Milolii reached over and clasped Moana’s hand, her head tilting sympathetically. “What are you so afraid of, child?”

“ _ Afraid of? _ ” Moana demanded, “I don’t understand what—”

“Certainly you understand what fear is, don't you child?” Milolii beseeched, cupping Moana’s cheek with her palm. 

Moana jerked out of Milolii’s grasp, a scowl on her face. “I’m twenty-five years old.”

Kilioe chuckled while Milolii responded serenely, “You are young still.”

“What I don’t understand,” Kilioe began conversationally, “is why confessing your feeling poses such a daunting challenge for you.  _ You,  _ Moana of Montinui, who was not nearly so hesitant in restoring the heart of Te Fiti.”

An icy fist stole the breath from Moana’s lungs, falling to the pit of her stomach like a stone. Around them the sun shone and the pond glistened, the jungle was full of life, but Moana was overwhelmed by the feeling of wrongness, of entropy. 

“How do you know who I am?” 

Milolii and Kilioe smiled, identical curves of lips and teeth, and Moana fought the urge to shudder. 

“What could frighten the  _ ho’ola  _ of the world?” Milolii questioned softly. 

As if the answer had been wrenched out of her very lungs and forced past her teeth, Moana hissed, “Being alone.”

“ _ Alone? _ ” Kilioe repeated in a humiliating falsetto. “Surrounded by your people, leading them to bountiful new islands?”

Frozen in place, Moana fisted the fabric of her skirt in her hands so tightly her knuckles appeared stark and pale. “My people don’t treat me like they used to before Te Fiti,” she was forced to confess, “I’m more than  _ ali’i _ to them now, they-they  _ revere _ me, almost. They believe I’ve been blessed by the gods. They...They don't see me as one of them anymore.”

“You never told Maui this, did you, child?” Milolii murmured, caressing Moana’s hair as a mother would. It made bile rise to the back of Moana’s throat, burning when she forced it back down. She fought to keep still, but her body was no longer hers to control and she shook her head in response to Milolii’s question. 

“What are you afraid of?” Milolii crooned. 

“I’m afraid I won’t think of enough ways to kick your ass,” Moana hissed. 

“What are you  _ afraid _ of?” Kilioe pressed. 

Moana clenched her jaw, ground her teeth together, and still the answer was torn from her so violently that tears sprang to her eyes. “I’m afraid Maui will leave.”

“Why would he ever leave you, dear heart?” Milolii simpered, tracing the line of Moana’s cheek with the back of her fingers. “Maui, your best friend, partner, and teacher.”

“What  _ are _ you?” Moana demanded. 

Kilioe leaned over the ponds surface, tracing patterns on the water. She didn't look over at Moana as she spoke, her voice as soft as Moana had ever heard it. “Do you fear that he’ll see what your people do not? Not a gifted girl, but a girl who is not enough?”

“I know who I am,” Moana retorted through gritted teeth, every word a war. A tear streaked down her cheek, and Milolii reached out to catch it in the palm of her hand. 

“We know, child,” Milolii assured her with sickening affection. 

“You’re stronger than we expected,” Kilioe added, and her grin was feral. “I almost understand what the demigod sees in you.”

“Have you done this to Maui too?” Moana demanded, hating how her voice wavered. The thought of Maui enduring the same torment, having his secrets forcibly ripped from his soul as she had, filled her with despair. Maui had grown so much in the years she had known him, but his insecurities were ever present beneath the surface of his bravado. Moana had done her best to alleviate his anxieties with every smile, every gentle touch, and their easy banter, letting him know he was wanted and welcome in her life. If these… _ creatures  _ had done anything to jeopardize his hard-won progress, she would rip them apart herself. 

Kilioe’s grin morphed into a scowl. “His  _ mana  _ is too strong for us to interfere with his mind directly.”

“So we merely put...  _ thoughts _ in his head,” Milolii went on, tapping Moana’s temple. “Influenced his dreams.”

“Dreams,” Moana breathed, realization rushing over her like a powerful wave. “This is a dream.”

Milolii dug her nail into Moana’s temple, Moana unable to do more than wince at the pain. “Clever child. But this much more real than a dream.”

“What  _ are _ you?” Moana whispered, but there was steel underlying her words. 

“We were three once,” Kilioe said with a mournful sigh. “Kilioe, Koe, and Milolii.” 

Milolii continued where her sister left off. “But our middle sister was slain, and we fell into despair.”

“The humans on our island revered us, built us shrines and made us offerings with every new moon,” Kilioe closed her eyes briefly, as if savoring the memory. 

“And yet, the island of Mo’o knew no peace,” Milolii murmured, reaching out to clasp Moana’s hands. “Te Kā’s curse was nearly upon us, and our people began to starve.”

Moana recalled with devastating clarity the ruins of the village by the shore, left to slowly crumble and fade, like the bones of a corpse long decayed. 

“You killed them,” Moana said, and despite the warmth of the sun above she felt incredibly cold. 

“We  _ freed _ them!” Kilioe insisted hotly, and the pond’s surface rippled, though everything around them was still. “Rather than wither away in misery as everything died around them, we granted them a swift, merciful end!”

Moana did not look away as Kilioe loomed closer with every word, her expression stony. “And you’re sure the lack of offerings had nothing to do with it?” Moana challenged. “You were starving too, weren't you? And just down the way was an entire  _ village _ full of people you could  _ trick _ into killing themselves.”

Milolii lashed out without warning, grabbing Moana by the jaw with bruising force and jerking her head up so that their eyes met. It was as though the unnerving, almost motherly, kindness Milolii exuded had never existed; in its place was a visage so twisted it couldn't possibly be human, a predatory hunger gleaming in eyes deep and dark as an empty pit. 

“We devoured them one by one, dear child,” Milolii murmured, her voice still sweet and soft, her grip punishing. “Stripped the flesh from their bones while they still lived, and they prayed to us while we did it. I will allow the demigod to watch while I do the same to you, before my sister and I split his carcass.”

Moana’s vision was blurry with tears, and she began having trouble breathing. 

“Why-” she gasped, “Why are you-” 

She gave a strangled gasp, clawing at her throat to no avail. She began to see spots, and her tears flowed more rapidly. 

“What you’re feeling is our doing,” Milolii said sympathetically, releasing Moana, “You’re strangling yourself, dear heart.” 

Moana slumped the instant Milolii let go of her jaw, gasping fruitlessly while an invisible force sealed around her throat like a vice. 

“It’s time to wake up, child,” Milolii whispered, leaning over her, and her demonic features were the last thing Moana saw before darkness fell upon her. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed, and I´m sorry about the cliffhanger ;D  
> Comments are what keep the roof over this poor author´s head! 
> 
> Notes:
> 
> Pa’u: skirts of kapa barkcloth worn by ancient Hawaiians
> 
> Ipu gourds: Bottle gourds used as water containers in Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand
> 
> Hāāwele: suspensory loops or bails used to hold together or carry large gourds.
> 
> Malihini: newcomer, visitor 
> 
> Waialiki: meaning “water king” in Hawaiian or literally meaning "Water Chief" in Cook Islands Maori (Rarotongan) according to another source
> 
> Ho’ola: savior
> 
> Ali’i: chief, chiefess, or royalty
> 
> Mana: a concept in Polynesian culture meaning “power, effectiveness, prestige," where in most cases the power is understood to be supernatural


	5. Sinking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids aren't alright pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't thank everyone who commented enough for your amazing feedback last chapter! :D I'm so happy you enjoyed it, I was pretty nervous about posting it 
> 
> Now, let's see what Maui's been dealing with ;)

The whisper of waves against the shore was more akin to a roar in Maui's ears, forcing the demigod out of slumber piecemeal. He squinted against the blinding sunlight, wanting to go back to sleep more than anything, and in that moment he regretted having slowed the sun in the first place.    


"I'm sure mortals don't need the sun _that_ bad," Maui grumbled as he hauled himself up into a sitting position on the sand. "What do you say, Mo? Think your people would be cool with about five hours less sunlight?"  


Crashing waves were his only answer, and Maui was jolted into wakefulness at the realization that he was alone. And not just alone; Maui stood, his heart hammering as he took in horribly familiar surroundings. Denial coursed through his veins as he beheld the site of his exile, his prison for the last thousand years - his island. 

"No," Maui whispered raggedly. "No, no, this can't be real."

He swallowed, pasting a broad grin on his face. "Very funny, Te Fiti! I knew you couldn't let by-gones be by-gones! But waiting ten years to get back at me, that _is_ clever! I never saw it coming!"   


The island remained unerring in its stillness, the waves continued to lap at the shore in maddening rhythm, and Maui's grin faltered.

"You know what, never mind! I'm _leaving_ , so thanks but no thanks for reminding me of how much I hate this place-"

Maui realized with a horrible lurch that his hook was missing.   


"No, not again," he muttered, scouring the beach. Growing more desperate by the second, Maui began lifting boulders and heaving them over his shoulder, deaf to the resounding crashes that followed.   


He buried his hands in his hair, yanking on the strands to the point of pain. "Where _is it_ -?" Maui looked down at his chest, desperate for reassurance from the living tattoos on his skin. Mini Maui was silent and still, and Mini Moana was- 

Mini Moana was gone. It was as if the tattoo had never existed.

"No," Maui breathed. Genuine terror made his lungs seize, narrowing his vision

" _No_ ," he thundered, frustration and terror mingled, and rounded on the infuriatingly placid sea. "Ocean! How did I _get here_? Where's _Moana_?"

For a long, heart stopping moment, in which another millennium might've passed, the ocean remained unchanging in its movement. But then a crest began to rise, unlike the natural push and pull of the waves, and Maui was able to breathe again. 

"It's about time! What, have you got another devastatingly handsome demigod stranded somewhere-"

Maui trailed off as the crest continued to grow, far beyond the size it normally adopted. The demigod took a cautious step back as a veritable wall of water formed before him, casting him into shadow. 

"Ocean-"  


The wave fell upon Maui with a roar like a wild animal, enveloping the demigod and propelling him backward with incredible force. He was released, sputtering, onto a stone floor. The demigod's hair, soaked and dripping fell around his face as he knelt, coughing, on the ground.

"Okay," he grunted, " _what exactly_ is the big idea-" He stopped mid sentence, looking up at the walls of his cave. Scrawled on the stone around him, by his hand, was his fishhook in greater and greater relief.   


"I think I've had enough," Maui said firmly, ignoring the tremor in his voice. He turned on his heel, but the cave entrance was nowhere to be found. Instead, on every wall and upon every available surface were drawings of his hook. They loomed over Maui, fraught with the accusations of gods and mortals alike, and a shudder lanced down his spine.   


He clenched his eyes shut, but the curve of his fishhook burned behind his eyelids, and Maui fought the urge to yank at his hair again to relieve the pressure building in his chest.   


"It's not my fault I lost it!" He tried to declare, but it came out as a plea. He took a shaky step forward. "I can still _be_ Maui, I don't need-"  


Maui's next step was met with open air, and he fell forward into absolute darkness with a shout. Frigid air stung his face as he descended some unfathomable depth, utterly blind, until gold light erupted across his vision, and he slammed into a hard, shifting surface. 

" _Well, well, well,_ " a voice simpered above him, and shock stole the breath from Maui's lungs. He pushed himself up as Tamatoa's shell began to rock, making it impossible to stand.   


"Little Maui's graced my lair with his presence yet again," Tamatoa sneered, bucking the demigod from his shell with little effort. Maui slammed into the ground, and Tamatoa gasped in mock surprise. "And what's this? No _hook_? Trying a new look, are we Maui? Personally, I always thought you'd look good _headless_."  


Maui rolled out of the way of the crab's massive claws, missing his hair by an inch as they buried into the sand. 

"If you were looking to settle scores, you might've come better prepared," Tamatoa goaded, heading off the demigod's attempts to escape. "Maybe bringing another human pet? The other one was so delightful, and she would've tasted _divine_."  


Maui roared, lunging at Tamatoa, but was swatted out of the air effortlessly. He collided against the wall, his head swimming as Tamatoa's terrible laughter engulfed him, so loud that it shook his teeth down to the root.   


"Touchy, touchy," Tamatoa chuckled, "She didn't kick the bucket, did she? It's been so long since I last saw you both, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about me!"

Ice cold dread pooled in Maui's gut, and it must have shown on his face because Tamatoa leered gleefully.   


"You don't _know_? Some self-declared hero to humanity if you can't even keep track of _one_ measly mortal."

Maui's head swam with the implication that Tamatoa was right. But he'd been on his thrice-damned island, how had he even gotten to Lalotai? He remembered Moana, and a cave, but his mind was too jumbled, his memories overlaying one another, and Maui was unable to tell what was true and what wasn't.   


"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head," Tamatoa assured Maui, tapping the demigod on the head so forcefully that he face planted into the sand. "It would be my _genuine_ pleasure to reunite you."

Maui was helpless to stop Tamatoa from snatching him up with his claws, pinning his arms to his sides. " _Cheehoo_!" Tamatoa cackled, launching Maui through the gap in the ceiling of his lair, and into the ocean. 

Maui surfaced in surprisingly shallow water, and trudged his way up the shore of an unfamiliar island. Sunset painted the sky with strokes of mauve and bright orange, and the jungle canopy was aglow. He could see the lights of torches just beyond the tree line, and where the jungle met the shore stood an impressive _fale_ , the entryways decorated with flowers and intricately woven _kapa_ mats.   


Unerringly, his body guided him toward the _fale_ , his breathing bizarrely loud in the silence of the beach. Other than the rush of the ocean upon the shore, it was quiet, peaceful even, but Maui's heart hammered in his chest as it had not since his final battle with Te Kā.

He reached the _fale_ and pushed one of the _kapa_ aside, ducking his head to fit through the doorway. Maui looked up to meet the gaze of strangers, men and women gathered around a much older woman on the ground. The old woman was unfamiliar, with a face heavily lined and browned by the sun, her hair nearly white. But he looked in her eyes and he just _knew_.

"Moana," he breathed, and the realization was both a blessing and a curse.

The men and women gathered around her (her _children_ , _grandchildren_ even, a corner of Maui's mind pointed out vindictively) turned to her for explanation, but Moana only smiled and waved for them to go. The small group rose, but a child Maui hadn't noticed at first remained clutching at Moana's blankets.

" _No_ , Gramma," the boy protested, tears already making tracks on his round cheeks.   


Moana smiled kindly, brushing his tears away with her thumb and drawing him close in a _hongi_. The boy sniffled, tearfully returning Moana's smile. He placed a  kiss on her forehead, before standing and following his elders out of the _fale_.   


While Maui had watched the display between Moana and her grandson, his stomach had been tying itself in knots, but the moment Moana's gaze settled on him, he felt it drop out entirely.   


Moana quirked an unamused eyebrow, her expression otherwise unreadable. "Well. It took you long enough."  


Maui swallowed thickly as he approached Moana's bedside, suddenly all too aware of his greater size as he kneeled beside her. "H-hey, Mo. Looking good."

"For a trickster," Moana said, "You're not a very good liar."

Maui chuckled, though it was without humor, and he trailed off at Moana's somber expression. "So!" He said, clearing his throat. "What's this place called? I don't recognize the island, it must be one of the few I _didn't_ pull from the sea-"  


"Maui," Moana murmured, and the demigod shut up instantly. "Where were you?" 

It was the question Maui had been dreading, and the one he had no idea how to answer.   


"I..." he tried. "I don't know." 

Moana's face crumpled in disappointment, and Maui's heart gave a lurch.

"I-I mean, I must've lost track of time, Mo, but I don't understand how, I _always_ keep track-"    


"I know that mortal lives must seem insignificant to a demigod, but they are everything we have to offer," Moana informed him acerbically.   


Maui's voice was tight. "Moana, I never meant for-"  


"It doesn't matter what your intentions were," Moana interrupted, and her voice broke. "You left me, Maui. I returned and I taught my people alone, every day hoping I would see you on the horizon."

Moana's wizened features were taut with pain and disappointment, and Maui's broad shoulders hunched in shame. He leaned forward, taking Moana's frail hand in his own with the utmost care. 

"I'm so sorry, Moana."

Moana tugged her hand free, folding it back over the other.

"I don't need your apology, Maui," she said flatly. "I need you to do the one thing you were ever good at. I need you to _leave_."

It would've hurt Maui less is she had yelled, if she'd been furious with him, because he understood Moana’s fury, knew how to counter it. But instead she was composed, resigned to her disappointment and to Maui's failure. 

And it _was_ failure; Maui recognized the taste of ashes on his tongue, the feeling of being uprooted and left to drift aimlessly like driftwood. It was the same as what he had felt at the loss of his hook, only tenfold, because this was _Moana_. And she was everything. 

But before Maui could speak again, though he had little idea of what he would say, Moana's body began to seize, and she began to choke. Horror lanced through Maui like a frigid blade, and he reached for her but he was farther away than he remembered being. Desperate, he lunged for Moana but she began drifting further and further away, her violent gasps echoing in his ears. 

Maui woke with a start, jerking forward and slapping a hand over his mouth, either to muffle a scream or a sob. His face was wet with tears he didn't remember shedding, but the ground beneath him was solid and the cave he was in had an entrance.

Only then did he realize that Moana's desperate gasps for air had followed him from the dream. 

Maui turned to see Moana curled on her side, her hands clasped tight around her throat, and her eyes wide and unseeing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm sorry about the cliffhangers! 
> 
> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! I'm looking forward to your feedback :D


	6. Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confrontations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry it took me so long to update! This chapter fought me, and with the holidays over I didn't have any more excuses to put it off.   
> Thank you all SO MUCH for your overwhelming support so far, you guys keeps me going :D I especially wanted to thank @lovetheinsane for all your indispensable feedback and encouragement in keeping this story going :'D   
> I hope enjoy this chapter, and let me know what you thought!

It was an insidious darkness that ensnared Moana, trapping her as surely as a riptide. However, it was nothing like the ocean she knew so well, familiar in its dangers and reliable in its intentions. There was an emptiness to this blackness, all-encompassing and isolating in a way Moana had never known. 

She didn't know how long she remained in that vacuum, silent, still, and alone, when something breached her prison. 

Like a light at the end of a tunnel, she heard a voice as if from a great distance. Moana couldn't process the words, but the voice brought with it a rush of familiarity. She immediately likened it to warmth, and trust, and  _ love _ , and Moana reached for it with all she was worth, desperate for an end to the void.

All at once, the voice was loud enough to be right beside her, and the words began to  _ make sense _ . 

“Come on, Moana, I know you can do this. Just follow my voice, I’m right here.”

With this heightened awareness came a price, however. Moana felt a painful, rhythmic pressure against her chest, and something warm covered her mouth, forcing air into her still lungs. There the darkness remained, clinging and cruel, and for an instant Moana didn’t believe she was strong enough to beat it. But then the voice spoke again, and oh how it  _ ached _ . 

“Please, just  _ breathe,  _ sweetheart. I’m right here, Mo, I’m not going anywhere. Just  _ breathe _ .”

And so she did. 

Moana gasped sharply, jerking to life with a fierce coughing fit that rattled her lungs and had her folding in on herself. Her entire body ached as though she’d scaled Lalotai ten times over, and her throat  _ burned,  _ bruised and raw, but Maui was beaming wide enough to split his face in two, highlighting the gap between his front teeth that Moana had always found so endearing. Moana wished she could muster a smile of her own in response. 

“There you go, sweetheart, you’re alright,” Maui murmured, leaning forward to cradle her cheeks in his palms, and Moana gripped his wrists for all she was worth as she fought to regain her breath. 

Her rattling coughs eventually gave way to choked sobs, tears springing to the corners of Moana’s eyes, clenched shut against the memories of a glistening pond and cold black eyes. 

“Hey, hey there.” Maui gently drew her into his arms, one of his hands carding into her hair and the other pressing against her back. 

“You’re okay, Mo. You’re safe, you’re alright. I’m here, I’m here,” Maui murmured into Moana’s hair as she shuddered against him, and he kept up a steady litany of assurances, despite how thick his voice became or how his hands trembled. 

Moana clung to Maui, huddled tight against the warmth of his body, and basked in the strength of his presence. She was exhausted, her body heavy and weak, and were she given the choice she would've fallen asleep in Maui's arms then and there. But her throat still burned as though she had swallowed hot coals, and the memory of her dream-that-wasn't was still bitingly fresh in her mind, and Moana knew that rest was not an option. 

“Milolii,” Moana rasped against Maui's chest, and immediately felt the demigod stiffen around her. “Kilioe.”

“ _ They  _ did this?” Maui demanded, and Moana leaned back to see fury writ large in the demigod’s scowl and in the furrow of his brow. 

A rasping cough crawled its way up Moana’s throat, and Maui’s features immediately softened as she huddled against him, shuddering. 

“Okay,” Maui said softly, rubbing her back. “Okay,” he repeated more firmly. 

He placed his hands on Moana’s shoulders, gently creating space between them and leaning forward so that they were at eye level. His gaze was sharp when it met hers, but his smile was kind. 

“Mo, you remember that gap I found in the wall, right?” Maui asked, staring at her intently, and Moana nodded jerkily at the non sequitur.

“But, Maui-”

“It’ll lead you to another cave, I could see the light of its entrance,” Maui went on. “Just follow that out and-”

“ _ Maui! _ ” Moana interrupted hoarsely, desperation seizing her chest and making her throat tighten painfully. “What  _ are they _ ? They-they made me-” Moana’s voice broke, and she inhaled shakily. 

Maui grimaced. “They’re mo’o; monsters that enjoy playing god. They get in and screw with your head and-” He cut himself off, smiling weakly and smoothing Moana’s hair with one large hand. “They’re bad news.” 

Moana laughed wetly, harsh and a little hysterical. “I gathered.”

Maui’s face sobered quickly, however. “I need you to listen to me, okay, Curly?” He said, and waited for Moana’s nod before continuing. “Those two will come after us any minute now. I need you to get to your canoe-”

“I’m not leaving you!” Moana interrupted hotly, her voice cracking under the strain. 

Maui smiled in the face of her righteous anger. “And I’m not asking you to. But we’re gonna need to make a quick getaway. The last time I fought these guys I had a goddess watching my back.”

Moana blanched. “They’re that strong?”

Maui grimaced and shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s been a while. But you understand what I’m asking?”

She nodded once, expression firm. “Get the canoe, and be ready to haul ass.”

Maui’s grave expression fractured with a smile. “That’s right, Princess.” 

He reached over and gathered Moana’s talavalu, harness and all, handing it over to her. Maui watched her as she settled the harness across her torso, efficient and brief, and when she looked back up at him, exhausted but expectant, he couldn't help the widening of his smile. 

Maui’s hands on her shoulders, he tugged Moana close and pressed a rough kiss against her forehead. 

“Be careful, Curly.”

 

* * *

 

Maui stalked out of the cave, hook in hand and face impassive, into an impressive storm. The wind whipped his hair around and frigid rain struck his body like a thousand tiny needles. Unbothered by the less than favorable weather, the demigod scrutinized the clearing, his gaze skirting over the treeline before zeroing in on the shallow pond, the surface of which had begun to foam. 

Maui rolled his eyes. “Typical.”

The pond began to churn, and Maui wisely kept his distance; the water was boiling, hot enough to burn even the likes of him. From beneath the surface of the water rose a massive black shape, and it continued to grow, emerging impossibly from the shallow pond. A long, serpentine body, with short, powerful legs took form, its scales blacker and sharper than obsidian. On its shoulder was a brand, the skin red and raw as though it were recent, swirling images of lightning storms burned into the beast’s flesh. 

The monstrous mo’o leveled its head at Maui, its four foot long, blue forked tongue flashing from between wickedly sharp teeth. At the same moment lightning illuminated the world in stark relief and cast haunting shadows over the beast’s visage. Maui only grinned up at the mo’o. 

“Always a flair for the dramatic, huh, Kili?”

The mo’o was expressionless, primal in the blackness of its eyes, but in Maui’s mind spoke a voice that wasn't his own. 

_ “You're one to talk, demigod.” _

Maui chuckled, casually slinging his fishhook across his shoulders. “Well you’re not wrong there. I guess neither of us has changed much. I see Hi’iaka’s little parting gift is still smarting.” 

Kilioe snarled, lashing out with her talons, but Maui had already zapped into his hawk form, circling overhead. 

“Temper, temper, Kili,” Maui chided on a laugh, “I guess you really  _ haven't _ changed.”

The wind shifted abruptly, a fierce wind slanting freezing rain directly in Maui’s path, making it nearly impossible to fly level. 

_ “I’ve changed more than you know, Little Maui,”  _ Kilioe very nearly purred, as Maui fought to remain airborne. 

“Neat trick,” Maui scoffed, “I remember when you and Mili could barely make it drizzle. Koe, though,  _ she  _ had talent.”

Instead of rising to his taunt as the demigod intended, the swirling storm around Kilioe calmed as her thoughts turned inward.  _ “It was thanks to Koe we even made it to this island. If not for her sustaining us, we surely would have drowned.” _

“What-you  _ ate  _ her?” Maui cried, circling just out of Kilioe reach. “What is it with you giant monsters and eating your relatives?”

_ “At least they can be put to  _ use _ ,”  _ Kilioe hissed,  _ “rather than tossing them into the ocean like refuse.” _

“I feel like you’re implying something.”

Kilioe growled low in her throat.  _ “Don’t act so sure of yourself, demigod. It was Milolii and I who twisted your dreams, entered your waking mind and saw your very self laid bare.” _

“Where  _ is  _ your better half?” Maui asked, “Did your little trick take it out of her?” 

_ “Milolii is with your little human pet.” _

Shock had Maui falling out of his shift in midair, only saving himself the indignity of slamming face first into the ground by rapidly shifting into a gull and back into a man. 

Kilioe looked positively gleeful, despite having no capacity for facial expression, her great body swaying from side to side like a coconut tree in the wind.  _ “Your dreams were interesting, if a little pathetic. Maui, Demigod of Wind and Sea, in love with a mortal whose entire existence will register as nothing more than a blip in his.” _

Maui’s casual veneer had long since begun to slip, a frown working its way onto his face. 

_ “But  _ her  _ dreams!”  _ Kilioe crowed, burying her talons in the dirt.  _ “Her fears were so  _ human.  _ And her  _ love!”

Maui’s heart might have stilled in his chest, gripped by the terror of what the mo’o’s next words might be, and he gritted out, “Shut up.”

_ “We forced her to divulge her most deepest secrets,”  _ Kilioe went on blithely,  _ “Things she’s told no one - not even you. And at the end of it, when she was weeping and spent, she asked for  _ your  _ wellbeing! You should be proud of her. Frankly, I’m surprised she didn’t end up strangling herself to death. My sister’s control is very difficult to break.” _

“Where is Milolii?” Maui demanded, tightening his grip on his hook. In his mind’s eye he saw the necklace of bruises around Moana’s throat, the determined set to her jaw despite her tiredness and trauma. 

Kilioe stared down at Maui with inscrutable black eyes and he felt a surge of terror, the same he'd experienced upon seeing Moana with her hands around her throat. 

_ “My sister took such a special interest in your little friend, _ ” Kilioe murmured, beginning to circle the demigod, _ “So she decided to keep her company while we caught up. It was so helpful of you to send her through our old cave, Little Maui.” _

Maui froze, his horror settling like an icy stone in the pit of his stomach. This momentary hesitation was all Kilioe needed, and she lunged at the demigod. 

 

* * *

 

 

The crevice Maui had indicated was a bit of a tight squeeze, unevenly spaced and awkward to shimmy through, but after a few minutes Moana made it into the cavern just beyond. It was so dark Moana had difficulty seeing her hand in front of her face, the only light that of the entrance far beyond, and she picked her way carefully through the cave. 

Keeping one hand on the wall, Moana retrieved her talavalu and held the end out in front of her, not inclined to trip over a stone she had been blind to. A terrible scent permeated the cave, like that of meat left to spoil, and Moana hoped that she wouldn't stumble over whatever poor creature had died within. 

It was utterly silent save for the sound of her labored breathing, louder than ever to Moana’s ears, making her feel increasingly paranoid. Maui’s abbreviated explanation of what the women, the mo’o, actually were had done nothing to settle her nerves, though adrenaline was all that propelled her exhausted body along now. Her throat still ached, and Moana didn't want to imagine the bruises she would have, nor the scene Maui must have woken to - her near death, literally at her own hand. 

Moana felt hysteria bubble in her throat, choking her anew, but she furiously stamped it down as she felt her sides begin to ache in protest. Moana had started to suspect that the chest compressions Maui had done to save her life had also bruised a few ribs, not that she would ever be telling the demigod. 

Even with Maui’s joyous relief in her mind’s eye, Moana shuddered at the memory of the suffocating darkness she had woken to, so absolute that the cave she traversed couldn’t hope to compare. But Moana was still blind, the stench in the cave so strong it was nearly a palpable thing, and the promise of sunlight suddenly didn't matter. Her vision began to narrow, an invisible weight pressing hard on her chest, and it was all Moana could do to keep breathing. Her knees trembled, and Moana slumped against the cave wall to keep from collapsing. She slid to the ground, her grip around her talavalu white-knuckled, and her face ashen. 

Moana’s mind was a war, blinded partly by panic and partly by fury, frustrated with herself for losing control in the first place, creating a feedback loop of sheer terror and self-abnegation. 

_ What could frighten the ho’ola of the world?  _

Miloli’s voice, cloying and cruel, pierced her thoughts, the memory of kind eyes and a hand on her cheek festering like an open wound. Her throat began to close like before, and Moana’s blunt nails left shallow gouges where she clawed for breath. Moana felt like she was sinking, drowning in the dark, and it was as if the nightmare had never ended. 

_ Just breathe.  _

Gradually, like the ascension of the sun, Moana recalled the warmth of Maui’s hand in her hair, the burn and rasp of her throat as she breathed, with none of the idyllic veneer of her manipulated dream. 

Moana clasped the paua shell of her grandmother’s necklace, the contrasting smooth and rough sensations helping to ground her and she concentrated on her breathing. She recalled one of Gramma Tala’s many lessons about patience, necessary for a girl who every year stared at the ocean with growing longing. 

_ “Everything comes with time, Moana,” Tala had said, braiding her hair in the shade of some palms. “You can’t rush the harvest, or force fish into our nets. Or even bend the tide to our will.” Here she tugged on a lock of Moana’s hair, making her giggle.  _

_ “These are things we cannot control. What we  _ can _ control is how we face them. Do we demand, plead, and berate ourselves, or do we accept these unchangeable things as they are, wait for our time, and- _

“Breathe,” Moana murmured, and the darkness began to lift from her vision as the vice constricting her chest lessened. 

She was  _ awake _ ; instead of overbright sunlight and grass the stench in the cave was fetid and overwhelming, not a paltry mimic of reality. And it might have been dark, but Moana  _ could  _ see light, and the cave wall was pitted beneath her hand, solid and  _ real.  _

And so Moana breathed. 

It took a while, exactly how long Moana couldn’t say, as her sense of time was sufficiently warped, but her breathing returned to normal, and the gloom of the cave ceased to frighten her. She was more than ready to be rid of the putrid air and off putting darkness.

With one hand on the rock wall and another around her talavalu, Moana pulled herself to her feet. She still felt weaker than she’d like, and the ache in her throat and ribs had not lessened, but she was breathing and her vision was clear. That would have to be good enough. 

Extending her talavalu before her once more, Moana continued her trek through the cave. She found herself tripping more often than before, the adrenaline spurred on by her panic beginning to peter out. She nearly ran into a stalagmite, despite her talavalu, and resisted the urge to yank her hair out. 

As it was, she scrubbed a hand down her face while muffling a frustrated groan, setting off again into the ponderous dark. 

After her attack, Moana had become consumed with worry for Maui, alone and facing off against the mo’o. She still couldn't picture them as anything other than the nightmarish women they had appeared to her as, and it was this fear of the unknown that made her clumsy. 

Once their little adventure was over, she would make sure Maui was alright. She hadn't forgotten the mo’o’s threat, knew that they’d influenced Maui’s dreams, and she feared what they had made him see. His relief at her waking, hacking and choking to consciousness, was heartrending to remember, though she warmed at the memory of his arms around her and the tattoo of his heart under her ear. 

She was drawing closer to the cave opening, and fortunately it became easier to see her surroundings, though the rancid smell only worsened, overpowering enough to make Moana gag. She resolved to breathe through her mouth, and sped up in order to get out of the cave as quickly as possible. 

In her hurry, Moana ended up tripping on something in the dark, landing hard on her palms. Wincing, she pushed herself back up and turned to see what she had fallen over. 

The grinning skull of a decomposing pig stared back at her in the dim light the cave entrance provided. Moana jerked back in shock and disgust, landing in something that crunched and gave way beneath her palms. 

The cave’s entrance loomed a scant dozen feet away like the gaping maw of a great beast, but Moana’s attention would not stray from the source of the cave’s foul smell. Surrounding her on the stone floor were the remains of bodies, corpses in varying stages of decay. Some were animal, like the pig she had tripped over, but many more were clearly human. 

Her heart in her throat, accompanied by bile, Moana carefully picked her way around the dozens of bodies. It was slow going, as the corpses were scattered and clearly left to lie where they had fallen, sprawled in macabre disarray. The dark sockets of empty skulls seemed to follow her as she passed, baleful and frightening, and Moana’s very soul shuddered. 

The ones nearest the entrance appeared most recent, judging by the small flock of flies, and the stench that nearly made Moana vomit as she skirted around them. With tears in her eyes, Moana uttered a small prayer for the dead, and turned toward the illuminated cave opening. 

Even as she made to face the entrance, something massive began to blot out the weak sunlight just beyond, and at first all Moana could register was  _ big  _ and  _ black.  _ Crowding the cave opening, its immense head barely fitting beneath the ceiling, was a lizard unlike any Moana had ever seen. Blacker than black, with scales so dark they seemed to absorb the very light around them, the monster of a lizard loomed at least fifteen feet above her, extremely still and extremely unnerving. 

One of the mo’o’s eyes shone like a beetle’s carapace, while the other was a ghastly milky white, bisected by a raw, jagged scar that extended down its upper lip. 

Moana tightened her grip on the talavalu. 

“Milolii,” she acknowledged steadily. 

_ “Hello, sweetling,” _ Milolii’s soft voice echoed in her head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as I can, but in the meantime please comment! I thrive on support and validation :D
> 
> Mo’o: “lizard god” in Hawaiian; Hawaiian mythological monster that were often thought of as guardian-spirit gods, though some were more troublesome than others, known for killing passerby.   
> Milolii, Kilioe, Koe: Well known mo’o of legend, said to push humans passing by into the river and drown them.   
> Hi’iaka: Hawaiian goddess of lightning, known to slay monsters that tormented humankind, like bad mo’o.


End file.
